Open your eyes to all sorts of possibilities...Discover creative ways to reuse recycled and natural materials.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The ABC’s of Teaching Preschool

Congratulations to Deborah Stewart from Teach Preschool. Her very informative facebook page has now 20,000 “likes”. You are such an inspiration!

To help Deborah celebrate we are posting The ABC of Preschool.

C for Creativity

Creativityis the ability to make something unique, to envision things that don’t exist and to make common things special. Creativity is the ability to look at everyday items in new ways. Creativity is about thinking, exploring, discovering and imagining.

Ways to Encourage Creativity through Art

1. Give emphasis to the process rather than the product.

2. Embrace unusual ideas from children.

3. Provide a classroom environment that allows the young to play and explore without constant adult interference.

4. Allow time to explore.

Three Month Project

5. Create an art center where children can freely discover materials on their own.

6. Provide a special area where children can explore clay.

7. Display creative works but avoid evaluations.

8. Promote respect for the unusual.

9. Be open to live with a sense of curiosity.

10. Encourage creative problem solving in all parts of the curriculum.

So Wonderful! A BEAUTIFUL post! I want to be a child in your school/classroom! What a wonderful environment! I wish all classrooms could be this colorful and creative! Thank you for all your inspiration...I know just by looking at these pictures you have sparked more creativity in me!

you have such a fun space, maria. i really like how you organized your ideas around creativity -- a topic i think about ALL the time! "Display creative works but avoid evaluations" is spot-on and "embrace unusual ideas from children" should be a starting point for most art projects. Child driven activities are almost always the most successful. I can't tell you how many times we start with my idea and quickly divert to one of my daughter's.

I found your blog via the ABC's and I just HAVE to comment and say I am in COMPLETE AWE of your classroom. It is, without a doubt, my dream space! How could you walk into a room like that and not want to get right to playing and exploring? I'm a new teacher and it's blowing my mind - I feel like it's going to take me AGES to collect a large enough collection of interesting materials to support an environment like that! Thank you for sharing!

Maria, I loved this post so much that I took the liberty to translate into portuguese language, and share it with my friends educators on Facebook.Thank you for the fantastic ideas you share.Keep up your creativity, it inspires me.

I love the space you have provided for the children! Wonderful! I have just opened my own centre, and I have a great deal of envy towards your space. My space has so much potential, but the feel of your centre is were my vision is for it to go! I was wondering how you attached the CD's to the wall. I found a large stash of CD's in my 'stuff' and I thought your use is very brilliant!

ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW! I WANT TO BE A CHILD THAT EXPLORES THIS CLASSROOM. YOU HAVE GIVEN ME A NEW PERSPECTIVE OF HOW BEAUTIFUL RECYCLED MATERIALS CAN BE AND YOUR ENVIRONMENT BREATH TAKING! I had to tell you in caps because I am in love with this classroom. You should definitely post more and more and more

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About Me

Imagination, Dreams and Adventures,
important ingredients needed for meaningful learning.
My Pre-school curriculum and environment is deeply inspired by The Reggio Approach to Early Childhood Education.
By encouraging children to explore their natural world, ask questions and PLAY in a enriching fun and loving environment, it is my hope that they will receive a foundation for learning.